[IlliniWoods]

My side steps arrived at 6:00 this evening from UPS and finished install before 8:00. Everything went ok. Some of the clips were disguised with the under coating, but came out fine. The passenger side seems to be a little easier, since there seems to be a little more room on that side for tightening the nuts (be careful, the exhaust is on that side and may be very warm). I used two metal ramps (one for the front tire and one for the back) to raise the E. It made the installation very easy, especially added room for the torque wrench. :shock: One big word of CAUTION, be very careful backing down off the ramps, there was negative clearance between side step and ramp. :? It made me scratch my head for a minute on how to get it off the back ramp, but I was able to adapt and overcome with a little ingenuity. The side steps look great, and now my little boy doesn't have to literally crawl in any more.

 

[IlliniWoods]

[quote:e8a88a8719="plainsmonk"]Fortunately, my ramps are hand-made hardwood jobs, so when I first backed down and the side steps met the top of the rear ramp, the ramp took all the punishment. At my wife's suggestion, I ended up using some two-by-fours to act as a "lift" behind the rear ramp, giving me just enough extra clearance that I could scoot out the ramp with minimal effort.[/quote:e8a88a8719]

Lucky you had wooden home-made ramps, I have the steel ones. Too bad you didn't see my post above with the clearance caution first. I solved my problem exactly the same (ramp off the ramp), only I had 2" x 12" boards handy. Fortunately, I was anticipating a close fit and had my wife back the E down of the ramps so I could watch. The side steps and the ramp kissed, but it could have really got ugly if I wasn't watching.

I wholeheartedly agree with your review of the instructions above, and good tip about the paint on the rear plate bolt, finger nail polish would work too for those that don't do much modelling (that doesn't sound right, modelling w/o finger nail polish :roll: ).

I hope you like them.